


Like a Baby Duck

by ALoza



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Alive Claudia, Alive Talia, Fluff, Imprinting, Jealous Derek, Little Kid Derek, Little Kid Stiles, M/M, Oh look fluff, Pouty Derek, Protective Derek, Teen Stiles, Yay everyone is alive, Yay no sadness
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-10-29
Updated: 2013-10-29
Packaged: 2017-12-30 20:03:02
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,300
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1022824
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ALoza/pseuds/ALoza
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Derek hoists Stiles to his feet, and the six-year-old topples forward into the ten-year-old’s chest. He grunts and wipes at his cheek. </p><p>“Sorry,” Derek blurts, eyes wide with worry, as he steadies him.</p><p>Stiles smiles and shrugs, “‘s okay.”</p><p>Derek smiles back and crosses his arms, “Okay, you have to be the prince and I’ll be the knight that has to rescue you, okay?”</p><p>Stiles nods, “Okay.”</p><p>“Go to sleep in the treehouse and when I kiss you, you have to wake up,” Derek instructs.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Like a Baby Duck

Derek hoists Stiles to his feet, and the six-year-old topples forward into the ten-year-old’s chest. He squeaks and wipes shyly at his cheek, small fingers soothing the muscle. 

“Sorry!” Derek blurts, eyes wide with worry, as he steadies him.

Stiles smiles and shrugs, “‘s okay.”

Derek smiles back and crosses his arms, “Okay, you have to be the prince and I’ll be the knight that has to rescue you, okay?”

Stiles nods, “Okay.”

“Good, now go to sleep in the treehouse and when I kiss you, you have to wake up,” Derek instructs.

Stiles blushes and runs towards the treehouse, climbing the steps slowly, and settles inside, yelling to Derek that he’s ready.

Derek battles imaginary dragons, fights off wizards and ghouls that have Prince Stiles captive in the tower. He’s the best warrior in the kingdom and makes easy work of them, swinging his lightsaber unforgivingly through the air. He grunts and stabs and pokes, the plastic of his lightsaber bouncing off of the swing-set poles.

His journey through the backyard is difficult and trying but he proves himself worthy when he reaches the treehouse steps. He takes them two at a time until he’s inside and Stiles is pretending to sleep, trying to hide his smile.

Derek breathes heavily, hazel-green eyes blinking at the younger, smaller boy. He counts the moles on his face and a riot of butterflies erupts in his stomach when Stiles quickly rubs his nose (“Sorry, my nose itched”) and he returns to his deep sleep. 

Derek swallows and leans forward, hurriedly pecking his dry lips to Stiles’ soft, small mouth.

Stiles peeks with one eye and grins, “You won!”

He lunges forward and hugs Derek.

***

Derek is fiercely protective of Stiles and begrudgingly lets him play with Scott during recess. He watches in envy as the two six-year-olds go down the slide, taking turns. 

It isn’t fair. Stiles is his friend, and if it weren’t for the double yellow line that separates the first graders from the fifth graders, he could be playing with him too. Most days, Stiles is happy to sit across from Derek by the yellow lines, rambling about something he learned in class that day. But ever since the new kid Scott got to town, Stiles has been playing with him more frequently.

When the school bell rings, signaling the end of the day, Derek takes Stiles’ hand and leads him across the street to the Sheriff. 

“Thank you, Derek,” John says, ruffling the boy’s hair.

Derek nods seriously and squeezes Stiles’ fingers. “I’ll see you tomorrow, Stiles.”

Stiles nod and leans forward, pinching Derek’s cheek. “Smile, grumy-lumpy face!”

Derek rolls his eyes, but complies. 

***

“What’s wrong, Derek?” Talia asks, cupping Derek’s angry face.

He huffs, “Some stupid new boy keeps stealing Stiles during recess.”

Talia sighs knowingly, “And you’re jealous of this boy?”

Derek nods, “Stiles is my friend, not his.”

She laughs softly, “Oh, honey, Stiles is allowed to have other friends, just like you are.”

Derek shakes his head, “No. I don’t want other friends. Stiles is my friend, and I’m his.”

That night, Talia calls Claudia.

“That’s adorable,” Claudia says, balancing the phone on her shoulder and mixing a bowl of cake mix. She sets it down and sits at the kitchen table.

“He’s really upset about it,” Talia sighs quietly. “He’s a strange one, that’s for sure.”

“Well, he was at the hospital when Stiles was born, he think’s he’s still a, baby, his baby.”  
 “Four years old and he imprinted on Stiles like a duckling,” Talia laughs airily. 

“He’ll be fine,” Claudia says. “Do you want me to talk to Stiles?”

“No, no it’ll be alright. Derek will just have to learn that Stiles doesn’t just belong to him.”

***

Derek hates Scott. He hates when he babysits Stiles, that Scott is always there, taking all of his attention. He’s fourteen now, and Stiles just turned ten last week. He’s his best friend, still, and he doesn’t think it’s weird. Stiles is smart, smarter than most of his classmates, and he likes to talk, which works out perfectly since Derek doesn’t usually like to.

“You okay, Der?” Stiles asks, holding his Power Ranger close.  
 Derek blinks, “Uh, yeah.”

Stiles raises a brow, “Here.” He presses the figure into Derek’s hand. “You can play, too. The Red Ranger is my favorite, but you can be him for right now.” Stiles smiles brightly at him and Derek feels the tips of his ears burn.

“O-okay.”

Scott smiles at him, holding the Blue Ranger out. “Stiles is a girl, see?”

Stiles blushes after digging out the Pink Ranger from his toy bin. “Mom said that I have to be gender neutral, whatever that means.”

Derek blushes, too. 

***

Derek is eighteen, and it’s the first day of senior year, but that’s the last thing on his mind. Stiles starts high school today, and it’s got his nerves bundled up tight. He dresses quickly, brushes his teeth, and takes his keys from the kitchen counter.

The ride to Stiles’ house is short and he’s there in minutes. The younger boy is nervously bouncing at his porch, but his eyes light up when he sees Derek’s Camaro pull up.

“I might throw up,” Stiles says, fastening his seat belt.

Derek grimaces, “Please don’t.”

Stiles smiles, “I’ll open the door.”

Derek chuckles, “You don’t have to be nervous. High school isn’t that scary.”

Stiles swallows, “I won’t know anybody. Scott’s in general classes cause he didn’t pass the Honor’s exams. I’m a nerd, Derek. Nerd’s get beat up.”

“No one’s going to touch you.”

No one would, not without facing Derek’s wrath. He’d warned his friends on the lacrosse team that Stiles Stilinski and Scott McCall were off limits and not to be touched. Well, mostly Stiles, but he’d mentioned Scott for his sake. 

“Let's get this over with.”

***

Stiles kisses Derek when he turns sixteen. Derek had been away at school, and came back for Stiles’ birthday, like he has the past two years. He, Scott, and Stiles’ other friends had eaten cake and watched a few movies; Stiles was pretty lazy and didn’t like to go out much, especially if he was the focus for the evening. He shuddered at the thought of a group of waiters singing him “Happy Birthday” before thrusting a brownie with a candle at him. 

Derek stays behind to help Stiles pick up. The Sheriff was working late, and Claudia had been called into work in the middle of the celebration, as usual, and he’d promised he’d stay with him until they got home.

“I’ve missed you,” Stiles admits, crossing his legs. “A lot.”

Derek feels his face flash red. “Me too.”

Stiles smiles, hopeful. “You have?”

“Course,” Derek nods, throat dry. “You’re my best friend.”

Stiles’ heart hiccups, and it takes every ounce of bravery he can muster to surge forward and press a kiss to Derek’s lips. In that instant, Derek feels ten again, breathless after his fight with goblins and wizards, and so happy to see his gentle prince sleeping, unharmed in the safety of the treehouse. 

***

When Stiles turns eighteen, they tell their parents, expecting them to be upset, but they simply laugh. 

Stiles blinks, “You’re-you’re not mad?”

“Oh, honey, we’ve been waiting for this day since you turned six,” Claudia giggles.

John stiffens slightly and looks at Derek sternly, “I have a gun, you know.”

Derek’s parents break into roaring laughter, and Derek relaxes under John’s playful glare.

***

When Stiles turns twenty-three and graduates from college, Derek asks him to marry him.

Stiles cries and says yes, kissing Derek in the wake of fireworks, his Mickey ears lopsided on top his head. He whispers “I love you” into Derek’s mouth, and the sky fills with pink and red sparks.


End file.
